Weekly Letter #18 - January 8, 2012

The children are settling back in after break, and this past week we started our unit on “Things That Go,” covering transportation by air. The children had fun making and flying paper airplanes and kites, and we also made tube passenger planes. We learned the signs for airplane/fly and reviewed the words for “trip/travel,” “work,” and “vacation,” and we read Flying and Flying Lessons. Each child also had a chance to talk about his/her holiday break. We talked about the letter ‘Pp’ and the children completely filled the whiteboard with words such as: “ping-pong,”“peck,” “Papa,” “porcupine,” “park,” and -- of course -- “potty,” “pee,” and “poop” (absolutely thrilling if you are 4 or 5 or 12......). So many fun words!

This week, we will talk about construction vehicles: backhoes, loaders, dump trucks, rollers, sweepers, etc. etc. We’ll learn more about the jobs of these vehicles and the reasons for construction. We’ll also talk about construction that might happen at your house: repairs, additions, etc. We’ll read Watch Out, Mr. Rabbit! andThings That Go. We’ll construct our homes from sticks and see what happens when construction vehicles drive through the mud. Our letter will be ‘Q’ -- that should stump them all for a few minutes....

The Wildflowers are undaunted by weather, and despite the chill, we are still spending lots of time outside. The children have been high-energy and really enjoy their outside time. Thank you for sending your children with warm jackets, hats, and mittens (don’t forget socks!!!) I look forward to seeing everyone this week!